The Sounds of Bygone Voices

Too many parents of small children make the mistake of putting off camping until the kids are “old enough.” Too late, they discover that by the time the kids get old enough, they’d rather be doing something else.

No, the time to take kids out is now. We’re not talking, here, of wilderness, over mountains, through rivers, and over glaciers, but we are also most certainly not talking of setting up camp in the living room in front of the TV either. Though that might be good practice, since all good camping requires planning, and camping with kids requires the best possible planning.

Kids don’t need much to keep them happy. All they really want is and need is to be comfortable, safe, and well fed. Start with short, easygoing outings, with plenty of games, books, crayons, and favorite teddy bears. Spoil them rotten on such trips. Double desserts and triple attention. Listen together to loons, tell each other great stories.

For what playpen could be better, and safer, than a ten? Pitched in the pines. Under the stars.

Wit & Wisdom of the Great Outdoors

Jerry Wilber

The cliff overlooking Bear Lake on the Superior Hiking Trail (The Twin Lakes Loop between Beaver Bay and Silver Bay, MN) on a calm evening as we are about to make the steep hike down into the campsite

I was paging through a book that I came to possess when my grandfather passed from his collection and found a post-it note bookmarking this passage. It was eery to read and imagine that this was his mission with my cousins and me. As with everything I inherited from my grandpa it has to do with the outdoors. This was always my connection with him, that is no secret. All the days and nights I spent hidden from the world in the great wilderness of Minnesota taught me how to live. There is a unity that bonds everything in the world from our fellow people to each blade of grass. Our time spent together was often volunteering at various camps for the Boy Scouts of America, the Muscular Dystrophy Association, and other organizations he cared a great deal for. Looking back now I see how we were helping others to learn about the peace and wonder that can be found at the campsite. Pitching tents as a team, taking day hikes to learn about flora and fauna found in the area, the stories told around the yellow glow of a campfire, and the inner peace found lying in your tent as you listen to the voices of the wind through the busy night woods. Often we were trying to help people to find the wonder explained in this passage. Admiration of the outdoors is inherently linked with a respect for it. If we do not care for our wilderness now it will not be there to share with our children and grandchildren to make these connections that cannot be found in the hustle and bustle of daily life. As I move towards a phase of my life where I am ready to have children and many of my friends are having them this is an important notion to keep in mind and an important practice to put in place.